Device for treating powder particles by rotary flow

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a rotating fluidized bed apparatus for powder particle. A gas circulation path is formed at the periphery of the treatment chamber  2  via the circumferential faceplate  202, 212 , and the circumferential faceplate is adapted to rotate around an axis. Behavior of powder particles can be controlled by introducing gas from the periphery of the treatment chamber via the circumferential plate  212  to exert centripetal force on the powder particle, while exerting centrifugal force on the powder particles accompanying rotation of the circumferential plate  212 . In another aspect, by making the arrangement proportion of the bag filter  5  inside the treatment chamber  2  wider than the surface width of the dispersion plate  212  or larger than the surface area of the dispersion plate  212 , it is possible to cause gas that has flowed into the treatment chamber  2  to be discharged at a lower rate at an axial region inside the treatment chamber  2  where centrifugal force is weak and discharge rate is fast. It is possible to carry out optimal operation control of introduction and discharge of gas for fluidized bed behavior.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention is in the field of fluidized bed apparatusfor treating powder particles by mixing, granulating, coating, surfacetreatment, drying, reaction etc., and particularly relates to afluidized bed apparatus suitable for treating fine powder particles.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Generally, a fluidized-bed apparatus, as shown in FIG. 20, isknown as a device for allowing mixing, granulation, coating, drying orreaction of powder particles by causing a gaseous body such as variousgases or air to flow in to the inside of a treatment chamber.

[0003] This fluidized-bed apparatus is formed of a truncated cone-shapedcontainer 2A having a dispersion plate 3A (for example, a punched porousplate) for ventilation arranged at the bottom. When this apparatus isused to dry powder particles, heated air is made to flow in to thecontainer 2A from below the dispersion plate 3A, and powder particles 1Aput inside the container 2A are dried while being subjected tosuspension fluidization.

[0004] On the other hand, when using this apparatus for granulationprocessing, a specified binder fluid (liquid) for granulation (forexample, a solution such as carboxymethylcellulose, polyvinyl alcohol,or hydroxypropyl cellulose) is sprayed from a nozzle 4A to powderparticles being fluidized to granulate by forming solid bridges betweenparticles by allowing drying of the powder particles at the same time aswet curing.

[0005] Recently, in fields such as medical supplies, agriculturalchemicals, fertilizers, foodstuff, ceramics etc., there has been ademand to increase the functionality possessed by particles, and toendow particles with new functions in order to manufacture high qualityproducts. There has therefore also been a demand, in the granulationprocess, for processing of fine powder particles of raw material in themicron and sub-micron order. Specifically, if granulated products ofabout 50 μm are to be produced, it is necessary to handle fine powderparticles of 10-30 μm and also single order micron fine particles as theraw material.

[0006] However, since cohesiveness and adhesiveness increase rapidly asparticle diameter of the processing material becomes smaller, it is notpossible to uniformly fluidize and disperse the powder particles withthe previously described existing fluidized bed apparatus. On the otherhand, there is a problem that if the amount of heated air supplied isincreased in order to achieve uniform fluidization and dispersion, thebody of fine powder particles will fly out as it is, handling isextremely difficult, and it is not possible to carry out control to forma satisfactory fluidized bed. Therefore, with the fluidized bedapparatus of the related art, there is a limit to effective fluidizedbed control due to the structure of the apparatus itself.

[0007] The object of the present invention is to completely solve theabove described problems, and to form a fluidized bed controllingbehavior of powder particles by introducing gas from outside thetreatment chamber via a circumferential faceplate to provide centripetalforce to powder particles inside the treatment chamber, and providingcentrifugal force on the powder particles in accordance with rotation ofthe circumferential faceplate. By doing this, it is possible to providea fluidized bed apparatus for a body of powder particles that canperform various types of processing such as mixing, granulation,coating, drying and reaction even for fine powder particles in themicron or sub-micron range.

[0008] In actually realizing such a fluidized bed apparatus, there arevarious problems to be solved in implementation of the overall structureof the apparatus with taking manufacturability and maneuverability intoconsideration, such as the specific arrangement and interrelation ofvarious equipment, such as a gas supply device, operation controldevice, motor, granulation nozzle, operating panel, gas supply piping,wiring etc. as well as maintaining optimization of influx and dischargeof gas attributable to size of the treatment chamber and blockage of abag filter etc.

[0009] Another object of the present invention is to solve the problemsfacing actual making of products described above, and to cause slowingof discharge velocity of gas that has been introduced inside thetreatment chamber at an axial region inside the treatment chamber wheredischarge velocity is high with weak centrifugal force. By doing this,it is possible to efficiently discharge gas that has been introducedinto the treatment chamber while balancing centripetal force andcentrifugal force on the powder particles regardless of the particlesize, and it is possible to carry out optimal operation control ofintroduction and discharge of gas for fluidized bed behavior. It is alsopossible to anticipate improved product collection rate by reducing theamount of powder particles sticking to a bag filter accompanying gasflow, and reducing the amount of discharge through the bag filter.

[0010] A further object of the present invention to cause gas to flow into the inside of the treatment chamber in a uniform manner from theentire surface region of gas ventilation means and not excessivelycirculating gas supplied to gas introduction means, as well as reducingthe diameter of a gas supply port, and to enable manufacture of a supplystructure without causing a gas supply path to project to the outersurface of a casing. As a result of doing this, arrangement of gasintroduction means and a casing and arrangement of the gas introductionmeans and a treatment chamber, and interrelation between gasintroduction means and a gas supply device is optimized, a supplystructure for gas in the apparatus overall is simplified, andmanufacture of the apparatus becomes simple.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Technical means adopted by the present invention in order tosolve the above described problems is a rotating fluidized bed apparatusfor powder particle for causing gas to flow in to a cylindricaltreatment chamber in which powder particles are placed, via acircumferential faceplate having permeability, and discharging gas thathas flowed into the treatment chamber from the treatment chamber via abag filter, wherein a gas circulation path is formed at the periphery ofthe treatment chamber via the circumferential faceplate, and thecircumferential faceplate is adapted to rotate around an axis.

[0012] Another technical means adopted by the present invention is arotating fluidized bed apparatus for powder particle comprising, insidea casing, a rotatable treatment chamber having an axis and beingprovided with cylindrical gas ventilation means having permeability atits circumference about the axis, gas introduction means provided at theperiphery of the treatment chamber for causing gas to flow into thetreatment chamber via the gas ventilation means, and a bag filter,provided inside the treatment chamber, for discharging gas that has beenintroduced into the treatment chamber to the outside, wherein anarrangement proportion of the bag filter inside the treatment chamber iswider than a surface width of the gas ventilation means, or larger thanthe surface area of the gas ventilation means.

[0013] A still further technical means adopted by the present inventionis a rotating fluidized bed apparatus for powder particle comprising,inside a casing, a rotatable treatment chamber having an axis and beingprovided with cylindrical gas ventilation means having permeability atits circumference about the axis, gas introduction means provided at theperiphery of the treatment chamber for causing gas to flow into thetreatment chamber via the gas ventilation means, and a bag filter,provided inside the treatment chamber, for discharging gas that has beenintroduced into the treatment chamber to the outside, wherein the gasintroduction means is comprised of a gas introduction passage formedbetween the casing and the ventilation means, and a plurality of supplyports provided at specified intervals on an inner wall forming the gasintroduction passage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 is an overall structural diagram of a vertical fluidizedbed apparatus of a first embodiment;

[0015]FIG. 2 is an overall front view of a horizontal fluidized bedapparatus of a second embodiment;

[0016]FIG. 3 is an overall side view of a horizontal fluidized bedapparatus;

[0017]FIG. 4 is a side view showing a rotational operation mechanism ofa casing body;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the essential details of the rotationoperation mechanism;

[0019]FIG. 6 is a front view showing a casing;

[0020]FIG. 7 is a rear view showing a casing body;

[0021]FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view showing a casing body;

[0022]FIG. 9 is an essential cross sectional view of a treatmentchamber;

[0023]FIG. 10 is a schematic cross sectional view showing anotherexample of a bag filter;

[0024]FIG. 11 is an essential cross-sectional view of a flow apparatus;

[0025]FIG. 12 is drawing for describing the behavior of powderparticles;

[0026]FIG. 13 is an explanatory drawing showing behavioral states of agranulation layer;

[0027]FIG. 14 is an explanatory drawing showing a usage example of arotation operation lever;

[0028]FIG. 15 is an overall perspective view of a fluidized bedapparatus of a third embodiment;

[0029]FIG. 16 is an explanatory drawing for the operation of a casingbody;

[0030]FIG. 17 is a front view showing a casing body section of afluidized bed apparatus;

[0031]FIG. 18 is a front view showing a state where an outer cover ofthe casing body is open;

[0032]FIG. 19 is a side cross-sectional view showing a casing bodysection; and

[0033]FIG. 20 is an essential cross-sectional drawing of a drying andgranulation apparatus of the related art.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0034] The present invention will now be described in detail based on arotating fluidized bed apparatus for powder particle as a preferredembodiment.

[0035] A first embodiment of this apparatus having a vertical structurewill be described based on FIG. 1 and FIG. 11 that is also used with thesecond embodiment. Reference numeral 1 is a cylindrical casing, andinside this casing 1 a cylindrical treatment chamber 2 for treating apowder particle material is arranged with a specified space from aninner wall surface of the casing 1.

[0036] In the treatment chamber 2, a lower fixed plate 201 is rotatablylinked via a rotation shaft 301 to a drive unit 3. A circumferentialfaceplate 202 provided on an outer peripheral surface region of thecylindrical treatment chamber 2 is comprised of specified ventilationmeans for causing specified gas such as various gases or air to beintroduced into the treatment chamber 2 in a manner enabling ventilationfrom a dispersion plate. The circumferential faceplate 202 is attachedbetween the lower fixed plate 201 and an upper fixed plate 203 in astate of being sandwiched by these two plates, using bolts 204, and canbe attached and detached by tightening or loosening the bolts 204. Thedispersion plate can be suitably exchanged for a porous plate, slit,metal mesh, multilayer mesh, or metal fiber etc. having differentdiameter holes depending on physical properties, such as the particlediameter of the processed powder material.

[0037] A granulation nozzle 4 for spraying a supplied binder fluid forgranulation is provided inside the treatment chamber 2. Respectivepiping for supplying granulation binding fluid and compressed air to thegranulation nozzle 4 is provided on the upper fixed plate 203. Acommunicating port to a discharge pipe 501 housing a cylindrical bagfilter 5 is also provided on the upper fixed plate 203 as dischargemeans for discharging gas that has been introduced into the treatmentchamber 2. Also, in FIG. 1 the bag filter 5 is provided midway along thedischarge pipe 501, but the bag filter 5 can also be provided inside thetreatment chamber 2 as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9.

[0038] In the case of a vertical apparatus, the powder particles arepiled up in a lower portion due to gravity, and this tends to occur morewith small particle diameter, causing bad fluidity. This means that evenif the treatment chamber 2 is caused to rotate to apply centrifugalforce to the powder particles inside the treatment chamber 2, there is atendency for the layer thickness (a distance from the circumferentialplate 202 in an axial direction) of a powder particle layer to increasetowards the lower side. Reference numeral 202 a is a bottom surfaceplate for variable adjustment of internal volume of the treatmentchamber 2, namely, the height of the treatment chamber 2, and gas flowsupplied from gas inflow means passes uniformly through thecircumferential plate 202 to simply form an appropriate fluidized bed.An arbitrary plate such as a non-porous plate or porous plate (enablinginflow of specified gas from underneath) is adopted as the bottomsurface plate 202 a.

[0039] The casing 1 has a through hole through hole for a rotating shaft301 in a bottom part, is formed from a container 101 having a supplyport 103 for supplying a specified gas (various gases such as heatedair, inert gas etc.) to a side section and a cover body 102 having acommunication port connecting between pipe holes for various piping forsupplying granulation binder fluid and compressed air to the granulationnozzle 4 and a discharge pipe 501, and the cover body 102 is fastened toa flange section 104 of the container 101 so as to be capable of beingopened and closed using a bolt 104.

[0040] As the gas, heated air that has been produced by heating airconveyed from a blower 6 with a heater 601 is used, and this heated airis sent through the supply pipe 105 to the supply port 103. Also,compressed air that has been supplied from a compressor 602 andgranulation binder fluid supplied from a binder supply device 604 arerespectively fed to the granulation nozzle 4 so as to be finely sprayedto the inside of the treatment chamber 2. In order to generate finelygranulated material, a so-called two-fluid or four-fluid fine spraynozzle is preferably used as the granulation nozzle 4.

[0041] A specified space formed between an inner wall surface of thecasing 1 and an outer surface region of the circumferential plate 202(ventilation means) of the treatment chamber 2 is formed as acirculation path 205 for heated air that has been supplied from thesupply port 103.

[0042] For supplying heated air to the circulation path 205, as shown inFIG. 11, the supply port 103 is arranged to supply heated air towardsthe rotation direction of the treatment chamber 2, while the supply pipe105 is arranged at a side surface of the casing 1 from a substantiallytangential direction to the same direction of rotation as the treatmentchamber 2, so as to further stabilize the supply of heated air.

[0043] Gas inflow means for causing heated air to flow dispersedly intothe inside of the treatment chamber 2 via the circumferential plate 202is formed using the circulation path 205 and the supply port 103.

[0044] Heated air that has flowed into the treatment chamber 2 passesfrom a communication port opened in the cover body 102 though the bagfilter 5 and is discharged to the outside via the discharge pipe 501.

[0045] A pulse jet nozzle 603 for spraying the compressed air from thecompressor 602 is provided above the bag filter 5, and by spraying thecompressed air intermittently in the direction of the bag filter 5,powder particles collected by the bag filter 5 are returned to thetreatment chamber 2.

[0046]FIG. 2 to FIG. 9 show a second embodiment enabling construction ofa horizontal apparatus. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram that is alsoused with the first embodiment. With this apparatus, the bag filter 5 isarranged at an axial section of the inside of the treatment chamber 2,and the bottom surface plate 202 a is not provided inside the treatmentchamber 2. The remaining structure and concept of the fluidized bed arethe same as for the first embodiment.

[0047]FIG. 2 is an overall front view of the fluidized bed apparatus,and FIG. 3 is an overall side view of the fluidized bed apparatus. Asshown in these drawings, the casing 1 is fixed to a body bracket 116 ata bottom part, and is attached to a frame 7 via this body bracket 116. Apair of left and right arm shaped support frames 711 are erected atspecified intervals on this frame 7, while a pair of left and rightsupport shafts 116 a projecting outwards to the left and right areprovided on the body bracket 116, and the support shafts 116 a arerotatably supported in the support frames 711. In this way, the casing 1is constructed capable of changing orientation of the rotating shaft ofthe treatment chamber 2 by rotating from horizontal to vertical, and canbe used in either of a case where the treatment chamber 2 shown in FIG.1 is a vertical type or is a horizontal type. In this apparatus, in thecase of a vertical type apparatus, feeding in and taking out of thepowder particles is carried out with the opening section 112 a of thecasing 1 facing upwards (rotation axis vertical), and granulationprocessing is carried out with the opening section 112 a facing sideways(rotation axis horizontal).

[0048]FIG. 4 is a side view showing a rotation operation mechanism of atreatment apparatus body, and FIG. 5 is an essential detail drawing ofthe rotation operation mechanism. As shown in these drawings, a rotationoperation mechanism 8 for rotation operation of the casing 1 is providedon an outer side of the right support frame 711 in FIG. 2. The rotationoperation mechanism 8 is comprised of a large diameter gear 811 providedintegrally with the right support shaft 116 a, a small diameter gear 812meshing with the large diameter gear 811, a worm wheel 813 rotatingintegrally with the small diameter gear 812, a worm 814 meshing with theworm wheel 813, and a handle shaft 815 for rotatably operating the worm814. A handle 816 is provided on a front end of the handle shaft 815,and by turning the handle 816, that operation force is transmittedthrough the worm 814, worm wheel 813, small diameter gear 812 and largediameter gear 811 to the support shaft 116 a, and the casing body 1 isturned. Since the worm 814 is then interposed in this transmission path,it is possible to reduce the handle operating force by ensuring a largereduction ratio, while at the same time having a structure enabling thecasing body 1 to be fixed to an arbitrary position by a brake operationof the worm 814.

[0049]FIG. 6 is a front view showing a casing body 1 of a fluidized bedapparatus, FIG. 7 is a rear view showing the casing body 1, FIG. 8 is aside cross-sectional view showing the casing body 1 and FIG. 9 is anessential cross-sectional view of a treatment chamber. As shown in thesedrawings, the casing body 1 of the fluidized bed apparatus is acylindrical shape having an opening section 112 a at a front surfacepart, and the air circulation path 215, the treatment chamber 2 having afront section opened and the bag filter 5 arranged at an axial regioninside the treatment chamber 2 are provided inside the casing body 1.

[0050] The air circulation path 215 is formed between an inner wallsurface of the casing 1 and an outer surface region of thecircumferential faceplate 212 (dispersion plate), as ventilation meansfor the treatment chamber 2. A rear surface part 112 b of the casing 1is integrally fixed to the body bracket 116, while an opening part 112 aof the front surface part is covered by a disk-shaped cover body 112formed from a transparent acrylic resin. The cover body 112 has an outeredge section fixed to the casing 1 using a plurality of butterfly bolts117, and can be attached and detached by tightening or loosening thebutterfly bolts 117.

[0051] Also, the supply port 113 for introducing a specified gas(various gasses such as heated air, inert gas etc.) into the aircirculation path 215 is formed in a right upper part of the casing 1,and is adapted to cause gas that has been introduced from the supplyport 113 to circulate along the inner surface of the casing 1, as shownin FIG. 11. For example, in the case of introducing heated air, airgenerated by a blower 6, as with the gas inflow means of the firstembodiment shown in FIG. 1, is heated by the heater 601 and introducedto the supply port 113.

[0052] The treatment chamber 2 is formed so that a disk-shaped rearfixed plate 211 and a disk-shaped cover body 216 formed of transparentacrylic resin are opposite each other with a specified distance betweenthem, with a circular dispersion plate 212 fitted between them. Thefixed plate 211 and the cover body 216 are connected by a plurality ofbolts 214, and attachment and detachment of the cover body 216 and thedispersion plate 212 is made possible by tightening or loosening thebolts 214. The dispersion plate 212 is arranged with a specifieddistance with respect to the inner wall of the casing 1, and has such astructure that gas introduced from the supply port 113 to the aircirculation path 215 flows into the treatment chamber 2 through thedispersion plate 212. The dispersion plate 212 can be appropriatelyreplaced with one having different hole diameters or materialproperties, depending on the particle diameter of the powder particlesbeing processed, etc., and it is possible to use a porous plate, slits,metal mesh, multilayer metal mesh, metal fiber etc. For example, since amultilayer metal mesh is formed by superposing a plurality of metalmeshes having different sized openings, and sintering them at aspecified pressure and temperature, it is possible to prevent the meshbecoming clogged with powder particles by having a structure with metalmeshes of fine openings on the surface contacting the powder particles.

[0053] A cylindrical rotation support shaft 217 extending to the rear isintegrally connected to a central part of the rear fixed plate 211, andthe rotation support shaft 217 is rotatably supported in an innerperiphery portion of a cylindrical holder 118 provided on the bodybracket 116 via a pair of bearings 119. A motor 3 (drive unit) isarranged beneath the rotation support shaft 217, with a pulley 312integrally provided on a motor shaft 311 of the motor 3 and a pulley 313integrally provided on the rotation support shaft 217 being connectedthrough a transmission belt 314. In this way it becomes possible torotate the treatment chamber 2 in response to drive of the motor 3 andsupply centrifugal force to the powder particles inside.

[0054] The bag filter 5 is formed from cylindrical mesh plates and isfitted between a disk-shaped rear plate 512 having an opening at thecenter and a disk-shaped front plate 513 formed of transparent acrylicresin that are opposite each other with a specified distance betweenthem. The rear plate 512 and the front plate 513 are connected using aplurality of bolts 514, and the front plate 513 and the bag filter 5 canbe attached or removed by tightening or loosening the bolts 514. The bagfilter 5 is arranged at a specified interval with respect to thedispersion plate 212, and is configured so that gas that has flowed intothe treatment chamber 2 via the dispersion plate 212 is dischargedthrough the bag filter 5. The bag filter 5 can be appropriately replacedwith one having different hole diameter or material properties dependingon particle diameter of the powder particles being processed, and aswell as materials used for the dispersion plate 212 it is also possiblefor the bag filter to have a cylindrical structure using a retainer andbag shaped bag cloth (woven or non-woven fabric) made of variousmaterials for covering the retainer.

[0055] A cylindrical discharge pipe 511 extending to the rear isintegrally connected to a central opening section of the rear surfaceplate 512, configured so that gas that has been discharged from thetreatment chamber 2 via the bag filter 5 is discharged to the outside ofthe apparatus (outside the system) via the discharge pipe 511. Thedischarge pipe 511 is rotatably supported in an inner part of therotation support shaft 217, and also a rotation operation lever 515 isintegrally provided on a rear end of the discharge pipe 511. Therotation operation lever 515 is for operation when the powder particleshave accumulated on the bag filter 5, and it is permissible to rotatethe bag filter through about 180°.

[0056] The granulation nozzle 4 is provided inside the bag filter 5, asshown in FIG. 9. The granulation nozzle 4 is connected to a bindersupply device and a compressor (refer to FIG. 1) via piping, and aspecified granulation binder supplied from the supply device is sprayedinto the treatment chamber 2.

[0057]FIG. 10 is a schematic cross sectional drawing showing anotherexample for driving the bag filter 5 of the second embodiment. In theprocessing apparatus shown in FIG. 10, the rotation operation lever 515is not provided on the discharge pipe 511, and the structure is suchthat powder particles on the bag filter 5 are made to fall by causingthe bag filter 5 to rotate using drive force of the motor 3. A pulley315 is provided on the discharge pipe 511 of this embodiment instead ofthe rotation operation lever 515. Pulleys 312 and 316 are provided nextto each other on a motor shaft 311, and a so-called dual rotation axismechanism is adopted to convey drive force of the motor 3 to thedischarge pipe 511 via a transmission belt 317 suspended between thepulleys 315 and 316. With rotation of the dispersion plate 212 and thebag filter 5 by drive force of the motor 3, a transmission ratio is setsuch that angular velocity of the bag filter 5 and angular velocity ofthe dispersion plate 212 do not match. Piping for the granulation nozzle4 is such that an end of the granulation nozzle 4 is jointed with theother end in a rotatable manner so that it is possible to rotate the endintegrally with the bag filter 5. In this way, the granulation nozzle 4provided in the bag filter 5 is prevented from spraying granulationbinder fluid to only a specified region of the dispersion plate 212. Forthe detailed structure of a dual rotation axis mechanism it is possibleto reference Japanese patent application No. Hei. 11-43238 (Patentlaid-open No. 2002-143705), and with the structure mentioned in thisdocument, the bag filter 5 and the dispersion plate 212 are caused torotate in the same direction, but they can also be caused to rotate inopposite directions.

[0058] Next, a description will be given for the apparatus having thistype of structure of a method for carrying out drying treatment whilemixing and granulating powder particles, based on FIG. 12 and FIG. 13.Description will be given focusing mainly on the second embodiment, butthe first embodiment can also be appropriately referred to. Inintroducing a fixed amount of powder particles into the inside of thetreatment chamber 2, first of all the cover body 112 (102) and coverbody 216 are opened with the opening section 112 a of the casing 1facing upwards (vertical type), a specified amount of powder particlesare introduced into the treatment chamber 2 and the cover body 112 andcover body 216 are closed. After that, the orientation of the casing 1is changed to a lateral manner, the powder particles are subjected tocentrifugal force by driving the motor 3 to rotate the treatment chamber2, and powder particles accumulate in a uniform manner at the inner wallsurface of the circumferential surface plate 212 (202). By causingheated air introduced to the circulation path 205 (215) to flow into theinside of the treatment chamber 2 via the circumferential surface plate212 (202), the powder particles are subjected to centripetal force tocause dispersed fluidization, and a fluidized bed is formed.

[0059] It is possible to carry out continuous operation by providing thesupply discharge pipe for material inside the discharge pipe 511 (501),and it is also possible to easily introduce the specified amount ofparticles in a short time if powder particles are introduced whilerotating the treatment chamber 2. By causing compressed air to flowinside the treatment chamber 2 using the granulation nozzle 4, asrequired, it is possible to form the fluidized bed smoothly, and it ispossible to form a powder layer of uniform thickness in an extremelyshort time.

[0060] At that time, in the first embodiment the height of the treatmentchamber 2 is adjusted as required using the bottom surface plate 202 aand by supplying heated air from below by employing a porous plate forthe bottom surface plate 202 a and supplying compressed air from thegranulation nozzle 4 before carrying out a granulation operation, it ispossible to cause suspended fluidization of the powder particles. Inthis way, it is possible to form a fluidized bed smoothly from initialoperating conditions, and if the adjustment and supply are used togetherthey can be used to assist in uniform formation of a fluidized bed evenduring operation.

[0061] Here, inside the treatment chamber 2 fluidization commences fromthe particle body layer surface because wind velocity is slightly fasterat the inner side of the particle body layer (axial direction) andcentrifugal force applied to the powder particles is small. Accordingly,by changing the amount of heated air supplied, even if rotational speedof the treatment chamber 2 is constant, it is possible to control thepowder particles from a fixed bed where there is no fluidization to acompleted fluidized bed. In FIG. 13(A), (B) and (C) respectivelyrepresent a fixed bed, a partial fluidized bed and a completelyfluidized bed.

[0062] At a section where the powder particles are being fluidized,respective particles of the powder particles exhibit the microscopicfluidizing behavior shown in FIG. 12 due to balance adjustment of thecentrifugal force and the centripetal force. At this time, a pressuredifference arises in front of and behind the powder particle layerthrough which heated air passes, and inside the casing body 1, theinside of the circulation path 215 (205) exhibits high pressure whilethe inside of the treatment chamber 2 exhibits low pressure. Thispressure difference become larger with increase in powder particle layerthickness, rotational speed of the treatment chamber 2 and amount (flowrate) of heated air. If the powder particle layer thickness and therotational speed of the treatment chamber 2 are constant, the pressuredifference increases together with flow velocity, but remains constantonce a specified velocity is reached, with this time being a state wherethere is complete fluidization. This velocity is taken to be thevelocity when complete fluidization commences. This minimum fluidizationvelocity can be calculated logically from a relationship betweenpressure difference and flow rate of the powder particle layer.Therefore, the behavior of the powder particles inside the treatmentchamber 2 brings about a structure that enables sequential behavioralcontrol of a balance between rotational speed of the treatment chamber 2and air supply amount from a state where the fixed bed is formed causingcentrifugal pressing of the powder particles towards the circumferentialplate 212 (202) to a state where a fluidized bed is formed causingcentripetal dispersion to the axial region, by adjusting the pressuredifference between the air circulation path 215 (205) and the inside ofthe treatment chamber 2.

[0063] In the case of the vertical type apparatus of the firstembodiment, the powder particles are susceptible to the effects ofgravity, which means that in order to cause fluidization of the powderparticles a larger flow velocity than the calculated value is required,and since effects of gravity become more severe with smaller particlediameter and bad fluidity, in controlling the apparatus it is preferableto confirm the powder particles used in advance through usagemeasurement.

[0064] According to this type of control means for controllingcentrifugal force and centripetal force, it is possible to controlbehavior of the powder particles shown in FIG. 13. However, even with afine spray of binder fluid in the fixed bed state (FIG. 13(A)) where thepowder particles are completely not fluidized so as to give a statewhere a layer is only and in a partially fluidized bed where only theinside of the power particle layer is fluidized (FIG. 13(B)), it isdifficult to carry out uniform granulation treatment on the powderparticles that have been introduced into the treatment chamber 2.Therefore, normally mixing, granulation and drying are carried out usingthe complete fluidized bed of FIG. 13(C).

[0065] It is also possible to carry out granulation by repeatedlycarrying out an operation of subjecting the powder particles to acentrifugal force larger than the centripetal force and compressing thepowder particles by pressing to the circumferential plate 212 (202)side, and an operation of exerting centripetal force and centrifugalforce in a balanced manner to uniformly fluidize the powder particles,that is, by repeatedly forming the fixed bed of FIG. 13(A) and thecomplete fluidized bed of FIG. 13(C). It is also preferable to finelyspray binder fluid in this case, but since granulation is possible witha small amount of binder fluid it is possible to significantly reducethe energy cost required in drying.

[0066]FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a usage example of therotation operation lever 515. As shown in FIG. 14, in the case ofprocessing the powder particles, the powder particles are introducedinto the treatment chamber 2 (FIG. 14(A)) and the treatment chamber 2 isrotated (FIG. 14(B)). Initial rotation is at a slow rotational speed,and since centrifugal force acting on the powder particles is small, thepowder particles drop freely and accumulate on the bag filter 5 (FIG. 14C)). If the rotational speed of the treatment chamber 2 reaches aspecified speed, almost all of the powder particles are formed into apowder particle layer on an inner surface of the dispersion plate 212due to centrifugal force, and since centrifugal force is not exerted onthe powder particles that have accumulated on the bag filter 5 it ismaintained in that state (FIG. 14(D)). If the rotation operation lever515 is then operated to rotate the bag filter 5 by about 90°, the powderparticles that have accumulated on the bag filter 5 fall down (FIG.14(E)) and is assimilated into the powder particles forming the layer onthe inner surface of the dispersion plate 212 due to gravity andcentrifugal force.

[0067] As a method that does not use the rotation operation lever 515,it is possible to utilize a structure where the above described bagfilter 5 is caused to rotate by the drive force of a motor 3, to causethe powder particles on the bag filter 5 to drop off. Alternatively, itis possible to utilize a structure that uses a retainer and bag shapedbag cloth for covering the retainer, and to intermittently blowcompressed gas from the discharge pipe 511 to instantaneously inflatethe bag cloth and cause the powder particles to fly off.

[0068] In the embodiment of the present invention having the abovedescribed structure, mixing, granulation and drying are carried out byforming a fluidized bed of powder particles inside the treatment chamber2. With the apparatus, the treatment chamber 2 is configured to becapable of causing rotation of a circumferential plate 212 (202) aboutan axis, as ventilation means constituted by a dispersion plate, andalso, heated air supplied from the gas inflow means via this rotatablecircumferential plate 212 (202) is introduced to the inside of thetreatment chamber 2. As a result, in the fluidized bed of the presentapparatus, behavior of the powder particles inside the treatment chamber2 is controlled by control means for controlling centrifugal force dueto rotation of the treatment chamber 2 and centripetal force due to theinflow of heated air. This means that with respect to powder particlesinside the treatment chamber 2 it is possible to supply the effect offorces from opposing directions, namely the centrifugal force andcentripetal force, in a balanced manner, and behavior control ispossible to cause dispersive fluidizing while maintaining a state wherethe powder particles are allowed to accumulate uniformly inside aspecified region at the circumferential plate 212 (202) side. Also, evenif heated air required to uniformly disperse the powder particles issupplied, since centrifugal force acts on the powder particles, a goodfluidized bed is formed where there is no danger of the powder particlesbeing blown off as with the fluidized bed apparatus of the related art,and it is possible to treat fine particle powder in the micron andsubmicron range.

[0069] It is also possible to easily carry out a balance adjustmentoperation for the centrifugal force and the centripetal force usingcontrol means, and for the powder particles it is possible to carry outbehavior control so that a fixed bed, partially fluidized bed andcompletely fluidized bed are appropriately formed. As a result, duringthe granulation treatment, from a fixed bed to a complete fluidized bedare repeatedly formed, and it is anticipated that processing efficiencywill be improved by carrying out compression treatment of the powderparticles, in addition to cohesive force and adhesive force possessed bythe source powder particles itself, to make it possible to generate astrong granulated material.

[0070] Further, behavior of the powder particles is such that the powderparticles accumulates inside a specified region at the circumferentialplate 212 (202) side to form a fluidized bed, it is possible to arrangethe granulation nozzle 4 and bag filter 5 in a rotational center regioninside the treatment chamber 2 without there being any negativeinfluence on the fluidization process, and it is possible to makepractical use of space inside the treatment chamber 2.

[0071] The treatment chamber 2 of this embodiment is formed in acylindrical shape, but this is not limiting and it is also possible toform the chamber in a truncated cone shape or with a central sectionexpanded as long as the cross section at an arbitrary position is aconcentric circle, and a completely or partial dual cylinder structureis also possible. In the case of using a shape other than a cylinder forthe treatment chamber 2, powder particles that have accumulated at thecircumferential plate 212 (202) side form a fluidized bed that isinherent to the shape of the treatment chamber 2, for example having apartially different thickness, and it is possible to carry out mixing,granulation and drying treatment using this type of treatment chamber 2.

[0072] A circulation path 215 (205) for air is formed between the innerwall surface of the casing body 1 and an outer surface region of thecircumferential plate 212 (202) maintaining a specified space, and thegas inflow means is comprised of supply port 113 (103) for introducingheated air from the supply device (blower 6) and the circulation path215 (205). As a result, heated air is made the same pressure inside thiscirculation path 215 (205) making it possible to cause uniformdispersive flow inside the treatment chamber 2. This circulation path215 (205) has, for example, openings of ventilation holes in thecircumferential plate 212 (202) that are larger than powder particles,and the powder particles are discharged to the circulation path 215(205) side during treatment air flows into the treatment chamber 2through the circumferential plate 212 and flow path for discharging tothe bag filter 5 is formed which means that discharged powder particlescan be re-introduced into the treatment chamber 2.

[0073] The gas inflow means is made up of the supply port 113 (103) andcirculation path 215 (205), as described previously, but this is notlimiting and it is not essential to provide the circulation path 215(205) as long as the structure equally supplies heated air to thecircumferential plate 212 (202) from the outer surface region thereof.

[0074] The supply port 113 (103) is arranged at a side surface of thecasing 1 so as to supply heated air towards the same rotationaldirection as the treatment chamber 2. As a result, heated air that hasbeen supplied from the supply port 113 (103) to the circulation path 215(205) flows in a constant direction (rotation direction of the treatmentchamber 2) inside the circulation path 215 (205), and smoothly flowsdispersively into the inside of the treatment chamber 2, uniformly fromthe ventilation holes of the circumferential plate 212 (202), whichmeans that it is possible to exert equal centripetal force on the powderparticles.

[0075] Discharge means including the bag filter 5 for discharging heatedair that has flowed in to the inside of the treatment chamber links to acentral region of the treatment chamber 2, and heated air inside thetreatment chamber 2 can be efficiently discharged from a rotationalcenter regions without exerting any detrimental effect on the behaviorof the powder particles. By making it possible to arrange the bag filter5 at the central region, the overall apparatus can be made compact bymaking effective use of the rotational central region.

[0076] The control means is configured so that it is possible to controlbehavior of the powder particles from a fixed bed formation state, wherethe powder particles are centrifugally pressed to the circumferentialplate 212 (202) side to accumulate at a uniform thickness, to afluidized bed formation state, where the powder particles arecentripetally dispersed in the axial direction, by balance adjustment ofthe rotational speed of the treatment chamber 2 and the supplied amountof air. Accordingly, using the control means, balance adjustment of thecentrifugal force and centripetal force can be carried out easily, andit is possible to carry out processing of the powder particles usingbehavior control to appropriately form a fixed bed, a partial fluidizedbed and a complete fluidized bed. During granulation processing,granulation becomes possible using behavior control to repeat thecompression in the fixed bed formation state and the dispersion in thefluidized bed formation state, and it is anticipated that processingefficiency will be improved by carrying out compression treatment of thepowder particles, in addition to cohesive force and adhesive forcepossessed by the source powder particles itself, to make it possible togenerate a strong granulated material.

[0077] The granulation nozzle 4 is provided inside the treatment chamber2 at a central section, and granulation binder fluid is finely sprayedfrom the granulation nozzle 4 towards the circumferential plate 212(202) direction. As a result, since the granulation binder fluid itselfis also uniformly sprayed to the circumferential plate 212 (202) sidedue to the centrifugal force, it is possible to wet the powder particlesefficiently and to perform granulation treatment.

[0078] With this apparatus, the structure is such that together with theinflow of gas through the porous circumferential plate 212 to thecylindrical treatment chamber 2 holding the powder particles, gasflowing into the treatment chamber 2 is discharged to the outside of thetreatment chamber 2 through the bag filter, and also, together withformation of the circulation path 215 for gas by means of thecircumferential plate 212 at an outer side of the treatment chamber 2,the bag filter 5 is arranged at an axial inner section of the treatmentchamber 2, with the circumferential plate being capable of rotation in adirection around the bag filter 5. Accordingly, it is possible to causecentrifugal force to act on the powder particles in accordance withrotation of the circumferential plate 212, while gas flows in from theouter side treatment chamber 2 through the circumferential plate 212,and even if there are fine particles of powder in the micron orsubmicron range it is possible to carry out various treatments such asmixing, granulation, coating, drying and reaction while controlling thebehavior of the powder particles. Furthermore, in a rotation centerregion where there is no detrimental effect on the behavior of thepowder particles inside the treatment chamber 2, the entire filtersurface of the bag filter 5 is used uniformly making it possible todischarge the inflowing gas in an equally dispersed manner, unevennessof the gas is avoided and it is expected that behavior control toachieve balance of the centrifugal force and the centripetal force willbe simplified contributing to formation of a uniform and stablefluidized bed, and it is also anticipated that it will be possible toimprove processing efficiency dramatically.

[0079] Since the granulation nozzle 4 is provided inside the bag filter5, not only is it possible to spray granulation binder fluid from acentral part of the treatment chamber 2, it is also possible to simplifythe structure by also using the bag filter 5 as a support member for thegranulation nozzle 4.

[0080] The bag filter 5 is structured to be rotatable around itscircumference, and is rotated using a rotation operation lever 515(operation means), which means that it is possible to easily cause thepowder particles that have accumulated on the bag filter 5 to drop off.Further, in another embodiment the bag filter 5 is structured to berotatable about its circumference and rotated by a motor 3 (drivemeans), which means that operation of the rotation operation lever 515is not required and it is also possible to cause forced separation ofthe powder particles on the bag filter 5 using centrifugal force and toprevent clogging of the bag filter 5.

[0081] Because the angular velocity of the bag filter 5 and the angularvelocity of the circumferential plate 212 different, the relativeposition of the granulation nozzle 4 and the circumferential plate 212is varied and it is possible to spray granulation binder fluid to thepowder particles without bias.

[0082] By intermittently blowing compressed air from a compressor to thebag filter 5, fine powder particles shaken off the filter surface aremixed in with the powder particles forming the powder particle layerinside the treatment chamber 2, which means that there is no problem ofcomponent separation.

[0083] The motor 3 and discharge pipe 511 (gas discharge path) arearranged at an outer rear side of the treatment chamber 2, and since acover body 216 and cover body 112 for opening and closing the treatmentchamber 2 are arranged at the front of the treatment chamber 2 thestructure is such that the treatment chamber 2 is closed inside thecasing 1 and construction is made relatively simple. As a result, it ispossible to make opening and closing and encapsulation of the treatmentchamber 2 simple compared to the first embodiment.

[0084] The cover body 216 and the cover body 112 are formed fromtransparent material, which makes it possible to control the behavior ofthe powder particles while confirming the condition of the powderparticles through observation.

[0085] By providing the casing body 1 provided with the treatmentchamber 2 so that the rotational axis of the circumferential plate 212faces in the horizontal direction, and having a structure enablingrotation about a support shaft 116 a that is horizontal and orthogonalto the rotational axis as a fulcrum, at the time of processing thepowder particles it is possible to give the fluidized bed apparatus ahorizontal structure, and compared to a apparatus having that structurevertically it is possible to form a favorable fluidized bed avoidingunevenness of the powder particles due to gravity, and since it is easyfor the powder particles to collect uniformly at the inner wall surfaceside of the circumferential plate, it is possible to easily obtain afluidized bed that has been uniformly dispersedly fluidized. As aresult, volume adjustment of the inside of the treatment chamber 2 usingthe bottom surface plate 202 a is no longer necessary, transitdispersion of inflowing air by the circumferential plate 212 is madeuniform, and there is the advantage that it is easy to performbehavioral control of the fluidized bed.

[0086] When not processing, it is possible to easily carry outintroduction and removal of the powder particles by rotating the casingbody 1 so that the opening section 112 a of the casing 1 faces upwards.Also, since it is possible to alter the structure of the casing 1 from avertical type to a horizontal type, it is possible to use either avertical type or a horizontal type, enabling treatment using anorientation changing process including a variation in inclinationthrough a range of 0-90°.

[0087] The treatment apparatus body is rotated by means of a reductiongear mechanism including a worm 814, which means that it is possible toreduce the handle operation force by ensuring a large reduction ratio,and it is also possible to fix the casing 1 at an arbitrary position bya braking action of the worm 814.

[0088] Based on FIG. 15 to FIG. 19, a description will now be given of afluidized bed apparatus for powder particles representing a thirdembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is an overall perspectiveview of the fluidized bed apparatus, FIG. 16 is an explanatory drawingfor operation of a casing body, FIG. 17 is a front view showing a casingbody section of the fluidized bed apparatus, FIG. 18 is a front viewshowing a state where an outer cover of the casing body is open, andFIG. 19 is a side cross-sectional view showing a casing body section.This third embodiment is an improvement to the second embodiment, andthe same reference numbers are used to represent members shared with thesecond embodiment. As shown in these drawings, the casing body 1 of thefluidized bed apparatus is a cylindrical truncated cone type having anopening section 112 a at a front surface section, and internallycomprises a cylindrical treatment chamber 2 for treating powder particlematerial, an air inflow path (circulation path) 215 formed between thetreatment chamber 2 and an inner wall surface of the casing, and a bagfilter 5 arranged at an axial section of the inside of the treatmentchamber 2.

[0089] The air inflow path 215 is formed between the inner wall surfaceof the casing 1 and an outer surface region of the circumferential plate(dispersion plate) 212 as ventilation means for the treatment chamber 2.The casing 1 is integrally fixed to a body bracket 116 having asubstantially L-shaped cross section using bolts 125 at a rear surfacesection of the casing. The opening section 112 a at the front surfacesection of the casing 1 is covered by a substantially rhomboid flatdisk-shaped outer cover body 12 containing circular transparent acrylicresin. The outer cover 12 is attached at an upper part to a hingesection 122 of a slide body 128 tip end so as to be capable of openingand closing upwards and downwards. The outer cover 12 also has a griphandle 123 at a lower part and left and right slot sections 124, 124. Toopen and close the outer cover 12, left and right take-up handles 126,126 provided at outer side surfaces of the casing 1 capable of rotatinghorizontally are respectively joined to the slot sections 124, 124 andthe outer cover 12 is press-fitted to the casing 1 (opening section 112a) by tightening to close the door, and the operation is reversed toopen the door. The outer cover 12 in the open state can be stowed bysliding the slide body 128 provided so as to be capable of sliding withrespect to guide bars 127 rearwards along the guide bars 127, and theguide bars 127 have front ends respectively supported in a frame 121bent in a stepped shape viewed from the side, and rear ends respectivelysupported on an upper part of a case cover 11.

[0090] Supply ports 13 for introducing specified gas (various gas suchas heated air, inert gas, etc.) into the air circulation path 215 areformed in the bracket 116 constituting the rear surface section of thecasing 1 forming the inner wall of the air circulation path 215, facinga surface region of the outer circumferential surface of the treatmentchamber 2. The supply ports 13 are holes of about 30mm diameter providedat 12 places in total at specified intervals. Gas introduced from thesesupply ports 13 is caused to circulate along the inner periphery of thecasing 1 accompanying rotation of the treatment chamber 2 that is,rotation of the dispersion plate 212 about the axis as ventilationmeans, and gas inflow means is constituted by the air circulation path215 and the plurality of supply ports 13. A gas supply chamber 131 forequally distributing air from the gas supply device (not shown in thedrawings) provided inside a frame 7, which will be described later, isprovided at a rear surface side of the supply ports 13, and in the caseof introducing heated air, for example, air generated by a blower, asgas supply means is heated by a heater and guided into the gas supplychamber 131.

[0091] The supply ports 13 are not limited to being circular, and it isalso possible to form them in an arbitrary shape, such as elliptical. Itis also possible to provide a plurality of smaller supply ports 13 at anarrangement region of one supply port 13, or to form the supply ports soas to impart directivity to an air jet.

[0092] The treatment chamber 2 is formed by making a substantiallytruncated cone shaped rear fixed plate 221 and a disc shaped inner cover216 containing circular transparent acrylic resin face each other at aspecified distance, and fitting the cylindrical dispersion plate 212between them as ventilation means. The inner cover 216 can be attachedto and removed from the fixed plate 221. The fixed plate 221 comprises aring-shaped upright section 221a rising up in an axial direction fromthe dispersion plate (circumferential plate) 212 and having an arbitrarywidth, and an inclined section 221 b extending from the upright section221 a. A plurality of bolt pins 214 a are provided on the uprightsection 221 a, and a plurality of attachment holes 214 b, each of whichis formed by integrally connecting large and small holes, are providedin the inner cover 216. In attaching the inner cover 216 to the fixedplate 221, large holes of the attachment holes 214 b are fitted overbolt heads of the bolt pins 214 a, and abut against the bolt heads byrotating the inner cover 216 to the small hole side and fixing usingupper and lower bolts. When removing the inner cover 216 it is possibleto carry out the reverse operation and it is possible to attach andremove the inner cover 216 together with the dispersion plate 212. Thedispersion plate 212 is arranged a specified distance from the innerwall surface of the casing 1 and gas that has been introduced to the air(gas) circulation path 215 flows into the inside of the treatmentchamber 2 through the dispersion plate 212.

[0093] The granulation nozzle 4 for two-fluid fine spraying is providedinside the treatment chamber 2. The granulation nozzle 4, is connectedthrough piping to a binder supply device, not shown, and a compressor,not shown, and a specified granulation binder fluid supplied from thesupply device is sprayed to the inside of the treatment chamber 2.

[0094] The dispersion plate 212 can be appropriately replaced by adispersion plate of differing hole diameter or material propertiesdepending on the particle size of the powder particles to be processed,and it is possible to use a porous plate, slits, metal mesh, multi-layermetal mesh or metal fiber etc. For example, a multi-layer metal mesh isformed by overlaying a plurality of meshes having different mesh sizes,and sintering at a specified pressure and temperature, and it ispossible to prevent clogging with powder particles by forming a metalmesh of a fine mesh size.

[0095] A cylindrical rotation support shaft 217 extending rearwards isintegrally connected to a central part of the rear fixed plate 221, andthe rotation support shaft 217 is rotatably supported via a pair ofbearings 119 at an inner periphery of a cylindrical holder 118integrally provided on the body bracket 116. A motor 3 (drive unit) isarranged beneath the rotation support shaft 217. A pulley 312 integrallyprovided on the motor shaft 311 and a pulley 313 integrally provided onthe rotation support shaft 217 are connected together via a transmissionbelt 314. In this way it is possible to rotate the treatment chamber 2in response to drive of the motor 3 and to impart centrifugal force tothe powder particles inside.

[0096] The bag filter 5 is formed from a cylindrical mesh plate, and isfitted between a disk-shaped rear plate 512, having an opening sectionat a middle part, and a disc shaped front plate 513 having a centralpart formed in a U-shape, that are caused to face each other with aspecified distance between them. The rear plate 512 and the front plate513 are connected using butterfly bolts 514 provided in the middle, andit is possible to attach and detach the front plate 513 and the bagfilter 5 by tightening or loosening the bolts 514. The configuration ofthe bag filter 5 is such that it is arranged a specified distance fromthe dispersion plate 212, and an arrangement proportion inside thetreatment chamber 2 is wider than the surface width of the dispersionplate 212 or larger than the surface area of the dispersion plate 212,with gas that has flowed into the treatment chamber 2 through thedispersion plate 212 being discharged through the bag filter 5.

[0097] The bag filter 5 can be appropriately replaced with one of adifferent hole diameter or material depending on the particle diameterof the powder particles to be processed, and as well as material that isthe same as that used for the dispersion plate 212, it is possible toform the filter cylindrically using a retainer and bag-shaped bag cloth(woven or non-woven fabric) formed from various materials for coveringthe retainer, or alternatively to form the bag filter 5 in a bellowsshape in order to ensure surface area.

[0098] A cylindrical discharge pipe 511 extending rearwards isintegrally connected to a central opening part of the rear plate 512,and gas discharged from the treatment chamber 2 to the bag filter 5 isdischarged outside of the apparatus (outside the system) via thedischarge pipe 511. The discharge pipe 511 is rotatably supported at theinner periphery of the rotation support shaft 217.

[0099] A backwash nozzle, not shown, is provided inside the bag filter5, and compressed gas is instantaneously or intermittently sprayed topeel away particulate matter that has become attached to the bag filter5, and returned to the dispersion plate 212 side. Utilizing thestructure where the bag filter 5 uses a retainer and bag-shaped bagcloth for covering the retainer, it is possible to instantaneouslyinflate the bag cloth using compressed gas to cause the powder particlesto fly off.

[0100] A pair of support shafts 116 a, 116 b are respectively attachedto attachment surfaces formed on left and right sides of the bodybracket 116. The body bracket 116 is fitted by rotatably pivoting to theframe 7 via these support shafts 116 a, 116 b. The frame 7 is formedsubstantially in a U-shape in front view, so that various equipment (notshown) is housed in the bottom section 721 and left and right uprightside sections 722, 723, and the upright side sections 722 and 723constitute support sections (support frames) for pivoting the supportshafts 116 a and 116 b. The casing body 1 is then capable of rotationupwards and downwards in the U-shaped space. A gas supply devicecontaining a blower and a heater etc. is provided inside the bottomsection 721. An operation control device is equipped inside the uprightside section 722, for controlling various drives, such as the motor forcausing upward and downward rotation of the casing body 1 using theoperation panel 722 a, and a control panel for controlling centrifugaland centripetal force on the powder particles inside the treatmentchamber 2. A collection bag filter 62 for collecting powder particlesthat have passed through the bag filter 5 and been discharged outsidethe system from the discharge pipe 511 via the piping hose 511 a isfitted inside the upright side section 723.

[0101] The support shaft 116 b is tubular, and the inside of this tubeis used for housing a gas supply tube connecting the gas supply deviceand the gas supply chamber 131, to pass wiring to the motor 3, etc.therethrough, and to connect various devices at the casing 1 and frame 7side.

[0102] In this manner, the casing 1 is constructed capable of varyingrotation of a rotation shaft of the treatment chamber 2 from above tobelow, and it can be used in either case of a vertical type where therotation shaft of the treatment chamber 2 is vertical, or a horizontaltype where the rotation shaft is horizontal. In this apparatus, powderparticles are introduced with the opening section 112 a of the casing 1facing upwards (rotation axis in the vertical direction), as shown inFIG. 16 (A), the powder particles are processed with the opening section112 a facing sideways as shown in FIG. 15 (rotation axis in thehorizontal direction), and powder particles are removed with the openingsection 112 a facing downwards (rotation axis in the verticaldirection), as shown in FIG. 16(B).

[0103] Next, a description will be given of a method of carrying outdrying treatment while mixing and granulating powder particles, for theapparatus having this type of structure. In introducing a constantamount of powder particles into the treatment chamber 2, first of allthe outer cover 12 and the inner cover 216 are opened with the openingsection of the casing 1 sloping upwards, a constant amount of powderparticles is introduced into the treatment chamber 2 and the outer cover12 and the inner cover 216 are closed. After that, the orientation ofthe casing 1 is changed to a lateral manner, centrifugal force isapplied to the powder particles by causing rotation of the treatmentchamber 2 by driving the motor 3, and the powder particles accumulateuniformly on the inner wall surface of the circumferential plate 212. Onthe other hand, heated air that has been guided to the inflow 215 ismade to flow to the inside of the treatment chamber 2 through thecircumferential plate 212 to cause dispersive fluidization of the powderparticles by subjecting them to centripetal force, and forming afluidized bed.

[0104] By providing a material supply discharge pipe inside thedischarge pipe 511, it is possible to operate continuously, and ifpowder particles are introduced via the supply discharge pipe whilerotating the treatment chamber 2 it is possible to simply introduce aspecified amount of powder particles in a short time. By causingcompressed air to flow inside the treatment chamber 2 using thegranulation nozzle 4, as required, it is possible to smoothly form afluidized bed and it is also possible to form a powder layer of uniformthickness in an extremely short time.

[0105] Here, inside the treatment chamber 2, although only slight, thewind velocity is faster at the inner side of the powder particle layer(axial direction), while centrifugal force acting on the powderparticles is smaller, which means that fluidization commences from thepowder layer surface. As a result, even if the speed of rotation of thetreatment chamber 2 is constant, by varying an amount of heated airsupplied it is possible to form a fixed bed where the powder particlesare not fluidized, a partially fluidized bed and a completely fluidizedbed, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No, 2002-119843.

[0106] In a third embodiment of the present invention having this typeof structure, a fluidized bed of powder particles is formed by gasflowing into a cylindrical treatment chamber 2 from a circumferentialsurface region, and mixing, granulation and drying treatment is carriedout. At this time, at a dispersion plate (circumferential plate) 212side, as ventilation means, being the outermost section of the treatmentchamber 2, and at a bag filter 5 side at a central section, the flowrate is faster at the central side, as result of which it becomes easierfor finer particles accompanying the gas flow to move to the centralsection and a phenomenon arises where it is difficult for the movedparticles to return to the circumferential surface region. Also, whenblockage of the bag filter 5 occurs discharge efficiency becomes bad andthere is a danger of pressure drop and the balance between centrifugalforce and centripetal force collapsing.

[0107] However, the bag filter 5 provided in the treatment chamber 2 ofthis apparatus has an arrangement proportion inside the treatmentchamber 2 that is wider than the surface region width of the dispersionplate 212 forming the outer surface region, or larger than the surfacearea of the dispersion plate 212.

[0108] In this way, gas that has flowed into the treatment chamber 2 cancause discharge rate to be slowed at an axial region inside thetreatment chamber 2 where centrifugal force is weak and discharge rateis fast, efficient discharge of airflow is obtained while balancingcentripetal force and centrifugal force on the powder particlesregardless of the particle diameter, uneven gas flow is avoided and itis possible to carry out drive control for optimum inflow and dischargeof gas for fluidized bed behavior. Further, it can be planned to improveproduct collection rate by reducing the amount of powder particlesattaching to the bag filter 5 accompanying airflow, and amount of powderparticles discharged by passing through from the bag filter, and it isfurther possible to improve control characteristics for powder particlesinside the treatment chamber 2 such as being able to form a goodfluidized bed by exerting forces in opposing directions, namelycentrifugal force and centripetal force, in a well balanced manner.Also, it is possible to carry out an adjustment operation for thebalance between the centrifugal force and centripetal force extremelyeasily using control means, and it is possible to plan to improvesprocessing efficiency by reliably processing fine powder particles inthe micron and sub micron range.

[0109] The arrangement proportion of the dispersion plate 212 and thebag filter 5 inside the treatment chamber 2 is realized by forming thetreatment chamber 2 in a truncated cone shape. That is, a large overallcentral region that is set is effectively utilized and makes thearrangement region for the bag filer 5 by forming an upright section 221a that is upright and has an arbitrary height and width from adispersion plate 212 side, and an inclined region 221 b extendingtowards the rear from the upright section 221 a, with respect to anaxial direction of the treatment chamber 2. As a result, with respect topowder particles at an axial region side inside the treatment chamber 2where centrifugal force is weak, by slowing down flow rate at theinclined section together with discharge action to the discharge pipe511 side to weaken centripetal force, even if there is attachment to thebag filter 5, it is possible to cause powder particles to move smoothlyto the upright section 221 a side to form a fluidized bed, includingpowder particles that are made to fly off by a backwash nozzle.

[0110] The treatment chamber 2 of this embodiment has the rear fixedplate 221 formed in the shape of a truncated cone, but the shape of thetreatment chamber 2 is not limiting. It is also possible to form theinner cover body 216 in a truncated cone shape, and also to form boththe rear fixed plate 221 and inner cover body 216 in truncated coneshapes to give an overall diamond shape when viewed from the side.

[0111] By forming the inclined section 221 b facing to the rear of thecasing 1 (bracket 116 side), it is possible to smoothly move the powderparticles to the upright section 221 a side and also to use a spaceappearing at the rear surface side of the inclined section 221 b as theair circulation path 215 to make the air circulation path 215 inside thecasing 1 large, which makes it possible to increase the amount of heatedair accumulated inside the air circulation path 215 (casing 1), to makethe pressure either side of the dispersion plate 212 much closer toequal, and to achieve uniform dispersive inflow inside the treatmentchamber 2.

[0112] By making the gas inflow means using the air inflow path 215,formed between the casing 1 and the dispersion plate 212, and theplurality of supply ports 13 being a specified distance from an innerwall forming the air flow path 215, it is possible to cause air to flowin uniformly from the entire surface region of the dispersion plate 212to the inside of the treatment chamber, without gas supplied to the airinflow path 215 circulating excessively. Also, because the supply ports13 can be made small, it is possible to manufacture a supply structurewithout the gas supply path projecting to the exterior surface of thecasing 1. As a result, arrangement of the casing 1 and treatment chamber2 and connection to the gas supply device can be optimized, the gassupply structure for the overall apparatus is simplified and manufactureis made easy.

[0113] Since the supply ports 13 are provided in the bracket 116 formingthe inner wall of the inflow path 215, it is possible to have gassupplied from the supply ports 13 flow out in a direction parallel tothe dispersion plate 212, direct outflow (blowing) to the dispersionplate 212 is avoided, it is possible to equalize pressure inside theinflow path 215 in a state where there is no circulation due to supplyof heated air, and it is possible to make a circulation path due tocirculation arising from rotation of the dispersion plate 212.

[0114] The supply ports 13 can also be provided in the casing 1 formingthe inner wall of the inflow path as well as in the bracket 116, andnaturally the inflow direction of the air is arbitrary.

[0115] Further, a donut shaped (annular) gas supply chamber 131 fordistributing air from the gas supply device to each of the supply ports13, 13 . . . is provided next to the rear surface side of the supplyports 13 (bracket 116), and the supply ports 13 are linked to this gassupply chamber 131. Air supplied from the gas supply device istemporarily built up inside this gas supply chamber 131 and air can besupplied equally to each of the supply ports 13, 13 . . . and dischargedto the inside of the inflow path 215. The gas supply chamber 131 can bearranged at a rear surface side of the bracket 116 together with themotor 3 and the discharge pipe 511 (gas discharge path) etc.,arrangement of the casing 1 and the treatment chamber 2 and connectionto the gas supply device is optimized, the gas supply structure for theapparatus overall is simplified and manufacture is easy.

[0116] The casing 1 is formed as a truncated cone shape with asubstantially trapezoidal cross section so that the external profilefacing forwards becomes small, which means that an inclined side surfacesection of the casing 1 forms an inclined inner wall constituting theinflow path 215, and air supplied to the inside of the inflow path 215from each of the supply ports 13, 13 . . . can be discharged towards theinclined inner wall, it becomes possible to direct flow towards acircumferential surface region direction of the dispersion plate 212,and it is possible to support uniform dispersive inflow to the inside ofthe treatment chamber 2.

[0117] The frame 7 is formed having upright side sections 722, 723 atthe left and right and with a substantially U-shaped cross sectionoverall in front view, and the treatment chamber 2 (casing 1) is fittedinto a U-shaped section of a space formed between the upright sidesections 722 and 723 at the left and right, via support shafts 116 a,116 b that are orthogonal to a rotational axis. The upright sidesections 722, 723 constitute support sections (support frames) foraxially supporting the support shafts 116 a, 116 b to secure a structurefor supporting the treatment chamber 2 capable of rotating up and down,it is possible to vary the attitude of the treatment chamber 2 to befacing upwards, facing sideways or facing downwards, it becomes possibleto carry out treatment utilizing a process to vary the attitude of thetreatment chamber 2, meaning varying inclination in a range of 0-90°conforming to respective operations such as introduction, processing andextraction of powder material, and it is possible to use either avertical type or a horizontal type apparatus.

[0118] One of the support shafts 116 b is formed in a cylindrical shape,and the inside of this cylindrical support shaft 116 b constitutesarrangement paths (arrangement piping) for a gas supply pipe linking thetreatment chamber 2 and the frame 7 and wiring etc., which means thatthese supply pipes and wiring are not exposed to the outside, it ispossible to completely remove any danger of damage such as inadvertentattachment of processing material to induce a reaction, and it ispossible to plan to link to devices mounted inside the bottom section721 of the frame 7 and inside the upright side sections 722, 723.

[0119] Inner and outer covers 216 and 12 capable of being opened andclosed are provided at a front surface side of the treatment chamber 2and a front surface side of the casing 1, and because the inner cover216 is constructed so as to be attached or removed by tightening orloosening bolts, while the outer cover 12 is hinged at an upper section(or it can be hinged at a lower section) and is constructed so as toslide stowed to the rear in an open state, it is possible to formrespectively independent sections as a structure for closing thetreatment chamber 2 inside the casing 1, and as a result opening andclosing and also sealing of the treatment chamber 2 can be made easy,and the opened outer cover 12 does not obstruct introduction or removalof powder particles, or varying of attitude upwards or downwardsaccompanying the introduction or removal of powder particles.

[0120] The inner cover 216 and the outer cover 12 are formed fromtransparent resin, which means that it is possible to control behaviorof the powder particles while confirming the fluidization and processingstates of the powder particles through observation.

FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL UTILIZATION

[0121] The present invention is a rotating fluidized bed apparatus forpowder particle, the apparatus causing gas to flow in to a cylindricaltreatment chamber 2 in which powder particles are introduced, via aporous circumferential faceplate 212, and discharging gas that hasflowed in to the treatment chamber 2 to the outside of the treatmentchamber via a bag filter 5, wherein a gas circulation path 215 is formedat the periphery of the treatment chamber 2 via the circumferentialfaceplate 212, and the circumferential faceplate 212 has a structureenabling rotation around an axis. With this arrangement, it is possibleto form a fluidized bed for controlling behavior of powder particles byhaving gas flow in from the outer side of the treatment chamber via thecircumferential plate 212 to exert centripetal force on the powderparticle, while exerting centrifugal force on the powder particlesaccompanying rotation of the circumferential plate 212. It is thereforepossible to carry out various treatments such as mixing, granulation,coating, drying or reaction even with powder particles that are in themicron or submicron range.

[0122] In the present invention, by making the arrangement proportion ofthe bag filter 5 inside the treatment chamber 2 wider than the surfacewidth of the dispersion plate 212 or larger than the surface area of thedispersion plate 212, it is possible to cause gas that has flowed intothe treatment chamber 2 to be discharged at a lower rate at an axialregion inside the treatment chamber 2 where centrifugal force is weakand discharge rate is fast. Accordingly, it is possible to efficientlydischarge gas that has been introduced into the treatment chamber whilebalancing centripetal force and centrifugal force on the powderparticles regardless of the particle size, and it is possible to carryout optimal operation control of introduction and discharge of gas forfluidized bed behavior. It is also possible to plan for improved productcollection rate by reducing the amount of powder particles sticking to abag filter accompanying gas flow, and reducing the amount of dischargethrough the bag filter.

[0123] With the present invention, the gas introduction means comprisesa gas introduction path 215 formed between a casing 1 and ventilationmeans 212, and a plurality of supply ports 13 provided at specifiedintervals on an inner wall forming the gas inflow path 215. In this way,it is possible to cause gas to flow in uniformly from the entire surfaceregion of the ventilation means 212 to the inside of the treatmentchamber 2, without gas supplied to the gas inflow means being circulatedexcessively. Also, because the supply ports 13 can be made small, it ispossible to manufacture a gas supply structure without the gas supplypath projecting to the exterior surface of the casing 1. As a result,arrangement of the gas inflow means, and casing 1 and treatment chamber2, and connection of the gas inflow means and the gas supply device canbe optimized, the gas supply structure for the overall apparatus issimplified and manufacture is made easy.

1. A rotating fluidized bed apparatus for powder particle, saidapparatus causing gas to flow into a cylindrical treatment chamber inwhich powder particles are placed via a circumferential faceplate havingpermeability, and discharging gas that has flowed into the treatmentchamber from the treatment chamber via a bag filter, wherein a gascirculation path is formed at the periphery of the treatment chamber viathe circumferential faceplate, and the circumferential faceplate isadapted to rotate about an axis.
 2. The rotating fluidized bed apparatusof claim 1, wherein the bag filter is provided at a central portioninside the treatment chamber, and the circumferential plate is rotatablecircumferentially about the bag filter.
 3. The rotating fluidized bedapparatus of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a granulation nozzle isprovided inside the bag filter.
 4. The rotating fluidized bed apparatusof claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the bag filter is rotatable about itscircumference, and is operably rotated by operation means.
 5. Therotating fluidized bed apparatus of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the bagfilter is rotatable about its circumference, and is rotated by a driveunit.
 6. The rotating fluidized bed apparatus of claim 5, wherein therotational speed of the bag filter and the rotational speed of thecircumferential plate are different.
 7. The rotating fluidized bedapparatus of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a drive unit for rotatingthe circumferential plate and a gas discharge path communicating withthe bag filter are provided on one side of the treatment chamber, and acover for opening and closing the treatment chamber is provided on theother side of the treatment chamber.
 8. The rotating fluidized bedapparatus of claim 7, wherein at least part of the cover is made of atransparent material or semitransparent material.
 9. The rotatingfluidized bed apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a casingbody having the treatment chamber is arranged so that a rotational axisof the circumferential plate is horizontally oriented, and the casing isrotatable about a support shaft that is horizontally oriented andorthogonal to the rotational axis as a fulcrum.
 10. The rotatingfluidized bed apparatus of claim 9, wherein the casing body is operablyrotated via a reduction gear mechanism comprising a worm gear.
 11. Therotating fluidized bed apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 10, whereinthe circumferential plate is made of a porous plate, slits, metal mesh,multi-layer metal mesh or metal fibers.
 12. The rotating fluidized bedapparatus of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the bag filter is formedcylindrically of a retainer and bag cloth for covering the retainer. 13.The rotating fluidized bed apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 12, saidapparatus is used in a powder particle mixing process, a powder particlegranulation process, a powder particle coating process, a powderparticle dying process, or a powder particle reaction process.
 14. Arotating fluidized bed apparatus for powder particle comprising, insidea casing, a rotatable treatment chamber being provided with cylindricalgas ventilation means having permeability circumferentially about itsaxis, gas introduction means provided at the periphery of the treatmentchamber for causing gas to flow into the treatment chamber via the gasventilation means, and a bag filter, provided inside the treatmentchamber, for discharging gas that has been introduced into the treatmentchamber to the outside, wherein the bag filter has an arrangementproportion inside the treatment chamber such that said proportion insidethe treatment chamber is wider than a surface width of the gasventilation means, or larger than the surface area of the gasventilation means.
 15. The rotating fluidized bed apparatus of claim 14,wherein the treatment chamber comprises an upright section upstanding inan axial direction from the gas ventilation means and having anarbitrary width, and an inclined section extending from the uprightsection.
 16. The rotating fluidized bed apparatus of claim 15, whereinthe inclined section is formed facing to the rear of the casing.
 17. Arotating fluidized bed apparatus for powder particle comprising, insidea casing, a rotatable treatment chamber being provided with cylindricalgas ventilation means having permeability circumferentially about itsaxis, gas introduction means provided at the periphery of the treatmentchamber for causing gas to flow into the treatment chamber via the gasventilation means, and a bag filter, provided inside the treatmentchamber, for discharging gas that has been introduced into the treatmentchamber to the outside, wherein the gas introduction means is comprisedof a gas introduction passage formed between the casing and theventilation means, and a plurality of supply ports provided at intervalson an inner wall forming the gas introduction passage.
 18. The rotatingfluidized bed apparatus of claim 17, wherein a gas supply chamber fordistributing gas from the gas supply device to each of the supply portsis formed at a rear surface side of the supply ports, and the supplyports communicate with the gas supply chamber.
 19. The rotatingfluidized bed apparatus of claim 18, wherein the gas supply chamber isprovided adjacent a rear surface side of the gas inflow passage at theportion of the supply ports.
 20. The rotating fluidized bed apparatus ofany one of claims 17 to 19, wherein the supply ports are providedconcentrically in one or two circles, or radially.
 21. The rotatingfluidized bed apparatus of any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein the gassupply chamber is annular.
 22. The rotating fluidized bed apparatus ofany one of claims 14 to 21, wherein the apparatus includes a frame formounting a gas supply device, a collection bag filter and an operationalcontrol unit etc., the frame has an overall U-shape in front view, andthe treatment chamber is mounted inside the U-shaped section via supportshafts.
 23. The rotating fluidized bed apparatus of claim 22, whereinone of the support shafts is made cylindrical, and the inside of thecylindrical support shaft constitutes a gas supply pipe linking thetreatment chamber and the frame, and an arrangement path for wiring etc.24. The rotating fluidized bed apparatus of any one of claims 14 to 23,wherein an inner cover and an outer cover capable of being opened andclosed are respectively provided at a front surface side of thetreatment chamber and a front surface side of the casing, the innercover for the treatment chamber being detachably attached to thetreatment chamber, the outer cover for the casing being hinged at anupper section or lower section and constructed so as to be slide-stowedto the rear in an open state.
 25. The rotating fluidized bed apparatusof any one of claims 14 to 24, wherein the casing is formed in atruncated cone shape inclined forwardly.